When You Walked Away
by Iridaceae
Summary: [ oneshot ] She'd waited for so long, and she'd wanted him back. But now, she didn't have to wait any more. Sora x Kairi


**Disclaimer:** All characters are property of Square-Enix, Squaresoft, and Disney. Except the 'plot' – it's MINE!

**-When You Walked Away-**

_Iridaceae_

_I'll never forget the day he left._

A silhouette of a 16-year-old girl stood on the dock of Destiny Islands, staring off into the beautiful sunset over the ocean. A look of hope, along with great sadness was deep within her cerulean colored eyes. A slight breeze blew her auburn hair into her face, and her plaid blue skirt was whipped around her legs. But nothing changed the look on her face as it concentrated on the sunset…and something…someone…beyond that.

"Sora…"

She said his name barely above a whisper, and her eyes were full of love and longing as she thought about him. She thought about his sapphire blue eyes, how they were always full of laughter and innocence whenever she had looked into them; about his wild, spikey hair that she had always found amusing about him; and above it all, the fact that he was the only one who truly cared for her ever since she appeared on this island ten years ago during a meteor shower.

She remembered the last time she had seen him…more than a year ago…

A sudden flashback crossed her mind at this thought.

_Kairi was alone in a mixture of darkness, not knowing where she was, or where anyone else was._

"_Kairi!"_

_A sudden voice, an familiar voice shouted her name, but it sounded so far away. She turned and saw Sora running towards her, hand outstretched, calling her name._

"_Sora!"_

_Kairi cried in relief, running towards him. Unfortunately, there was a chasm between them, and she almost fell into it before Sora caught her and balanced her. He grabbed her hand as the chasm widened._

_"Kairi, remember what you said before? Well...I'm always with you too."_

_She was so confused by what was happening, and all her thoughts were concentrated on holding onto Sora's hand for as long as she could. She was slowing slipping away, and she suddenly recognized where she was; she was back on Destiny Islands, but Sora was still in the unknown world. She looked at Sora and saw a look of deep sadness and longing, finally realizing what was going to happen._

_"I'll come back to you! I Promise!"_

_Sora shouted before their fingers lost each other._

"_I know you will!"_

_Kairi called out desparately. She watched him continue calling out her name, drifting farther and farther away at the same time._

_Suddenly, stars appeared all around, and Destiny Islands became recognizable. Kairi looked back at Sora one last time, and he gave her one last smile before disappearing into a bright light._

_The sky suddenly became the sky again; stars appeared everywhere, but Kairi knew that they were really the worlds that Sora had saved and locked up. Kairi took a deep breath before turning around and facing her home. It looked exactly the same, except for the fact that Sora and Riku were not here with her._

_Kairi suddenly caught sight of a place that she hadn't been in for a very long time. _

'_The secret place,' she thought, and entered through the vines._

_She walked around the cave, remembering the childhood memories of her and Sora drawing those pictures on the walls. Then at the very back of the cave, she saw an all too familiar drawing, a characturture that she and Sora and done of each other a long time ago, but there was one thing different about it._

_An arm was coming from the image of Sora, and it was giving the image of Kairi a paopu fruit._

_Kairi reached out to touch the drawing, and an illusion came before her as she imagined Sora drawing in the arm with the paopu fruit. The illusion smiled back at her before disappearing in a shower of stars._

_It felt as though her heart had melted, and something caught in her throat as a single tear fell down her face, but she smiled all the same._

She picked up a rock and started to sketch on the drawing. When she finished, she got up and left the cave, but not before giving the drawing one last look; the drawing that now had an arm coming from both the images of Sora and Kair each, and they were each offering the other a paopu fruit.

Kairi laughed and almost cried at the same time as the memories faded from her mind, when she realized that the sun was almost down and the sky was getting darker. She gave the setting sun one last look before hearing footsteps a few yards behind her. Then she heard a voice.

"Kairi…"

She froze. She didn't recognize the voice at first, it was rather lower and quieter than the one she had remembered. Slowly, she turned around and faced the one she had been waiting for all this time, the one whom she always had faith in, the one whom she loved.

'Sora…'

But Sora looked different, she realized as she stared at him in disbelief. He was definitely taller, his clothes were almost all black, and his hair was wilder, if that was possible, and lighter than it had been. His face looked as though he had gone through some hard times, but at that moment, his eyes, his sapphire blue eyes, were full of the same love and innocence she remembered two years ago. He spoke again, his voice gentle.

"I came back, Kairi, like I promised, remember?"

Kairi didn't know what to do. She wanted to run to him and scream out her happiness, she wanted to break down and cry, she wanted to touch and make sure he was real and not an illusion, but somehow Kairi already knew that Sora was finally back with her. She finally mustered out words.

"Yes Sora, I knew you would."

And she collapsed.

Sora ran and caught Kairi before she fell onto the ground. Although he was worried that Kairi might be hurt, he had a feeling that she fainted out of shock that Sora had finally returned, not that she wasn't expecting it…hopefully. But he put those thoughts aside and looked for a place for Kairi until she came around to consiousness. He spotted the old treehouse and brought her up me-don't ask me how, he just did. As he gently laid her down on the old bed, he looked at her and realized how much she had changed since he last saw her. He auburn hair had grown a few inches longer, she was a bit taller and she even changed out of her old outfit. Her face looked more mature, but it still bore some resemblance of the soft features he used to remember. He continued looking at her for quite some while, but his head finally drooped onto the bed and he fell asleep.

When Kairi woke, she groaned, thinking that the vision of Sora coming back was just a dream. But then she heard soft rhythmic breathing next to her. She opened her eyes wide, and it took her a few moments to realize that she was in the treehouse. She quietly sat up and saw a tangle of wild hair next to her on the bed, followed by the head and torso of Sora. Kairi signed in relief when she realized that he had not been a dream. She smiled to herself as she continued to watch the sleeping Sora next to her. The quietly as she could, she got off the bed and draped a blanket around him, and went down from the treehouse.

Sora woke suddenly, his instincts getting to him quickly. He looked around wildy, but there were no Heartless…just…peace. He was home. 'Home, with Kairi,' he thought, but he didn't see Kairi on the bed. He got up and a blanket fell from his shoulders. He stared at it, wondering how it got there, then this thoughts landed on Kairi. He smiled and climbed down from the treehouse to find her.

He spotted her sitting on the beach, staring at the ocean and the clear night sky, totally lost in thought. She turned around and looked back at him as he approached her, a smile on her face and a mysteriouis glint in her cerulean colored eyes. He lay down next to her with his hands behind his head, sighing as he stared at the stars – or worlds – above him. Home, he was finally home, where there were no Heartless, no fighting…just him, the ocean, and Kairi.

Kairi lay back too, her head facing the sky. After a few moments, she spoke.

"Remember we used to lay out here when we were little? You always said you wanted to know what was out there…if there were other worlds…"

Sora smiled and looked at her.

"I guess I know now."

Kairi laughed, then tilted her head as she continued staring at the sky.

"Look Sora…that kinda looks like you."

He looked at the direction she was pointing at. He thought he saw an outline of spikey hair…. He laughed and pointed at the stars in front of him.

"Well that kinda looks like you."

Kairi giggled the way Sora remembered so well. As he continued staring at the constellations, a déjà vu came to him. He sat up.

"Kairi, I just remembered!"

Kairi sat up too, looking at Sora with a confused expression.

"What?"

"Come with me."

He grabbed her hand and led her toward the treehouse and through a curtain of vines. He walked all the way to the end of the cave and kneeled down.

"Kairi, remember th—"

He stopped and stared at the old sketch of him and Kairi on the cave wall. Someone-Kairi-had added an arm going from her to the image of Sora, and the hand was offering a star-a paopu fruit. The picture shone brightly from the rays of the full moon at him.

Sora looked back at Kairi, who stood a little behind him; there was a pink tint on her cheeks and her eyes were shining more brightly than usual.

"Kairi…"

Kairi kneeled down beside him, and he could see that there were tears shining in her blue eyes.

"Sora…I missed you so much. I waited for you every day on that dock, I thought of you every day, I never gave up on you because I knew you would come back, Sora, I—"

She stopped as Sora reached out and held her gently in his strong arms. She relaxed and closed her eyes as she leaned back against him.

"I missed you too, Kai…you were always with me. The only reason why I never gave up was because I had to see you again,…I had to see you again."

Kairi opened her eyes after hearing his next words.

"I love you Kairi…I always have and I always will."

The next thing she knew was that Sora's lips was on hers. The kiss was soft and gentle, but then it became deeper, and Kairi felt that it was the best moment of her life. The two year long wait was really worth it, just for this moment with Sora.

When they broke apart, there was a pink tinge in both their cheeks, and their eyes glowed more brightly than usual.

"I love you too, Sora," Kairi whispered. "I would wait forever on this island for you to come back."

Sora smiled that goofy smile of his.

"But now you won't have to…

A slight breeze went through the cave, and if someone had walked in right that moment, they would see the most wonderful thing; a young man with spikey brown locks with his arms wrapped around a fragile girl with auburn hair. Both were fast asleep, and next to a crude sketching on the wall of a boy and a girl, sharing a paopu fruit.

_One look_

_One smile_

_One touch_

_One embrace_

_One kiss_

_One love_

_Two people_

_Two minds_

_Two souls_

_Two destinies_

_One road_

_One journey_

_One ending_

_Together._

_-Melissa Higgins-_

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**Author's Note:** FINI! Hope you enjoyed! Staring another story soon – thanks for reading! And please review!


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